**All the Best Team ISRO and Aditya L1**
15 JULY 2023 UPDATE :
Source : Times of India / ISRO
15 July 2023 EBN : The operation, which was carried out to increase the spacecraft's apogee (farthest point from Earth) began at around 12.05pm as planned and lasted for 11-and-a-half minutes, multiple scientists confirmed to STOI.
After Saturday's maneuver, "Spacecraft is now in 41762km x 173km orbit," said Isro.
Minor Burn on 16 July 2023 If all goes as planned, scientists will carry out a minor burning of onboard propulsion systems on Sunday 16 July to increase the perigee (closest point to Earth). It will be pushed to about 220km from the current position. "The perigee will then remain stable. The remaining three manoeuvres we've planned will all be for apogee raising," another scientist said.
The three other operations around Earth, as reported by TOI earlier, are planned for July 18, 20 and 25 to push apogee to around 1-lakh-km before Isro attempts to slingshot the spacecraft towards Moon, in the intervening night of July 31 and August 1.
On 14th July 2023 another historic space exploration mission to moon was launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from SHAR, Sriharikota. Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up lunar exploration mission by ISRO after Chandrayaan-2 and it would reattempt a soft-landing near lunar south-pole (69.37°S, 32.35°E) on 23 or 24 August 2023. Chandrayaan-3 composite consists of a propulsion module, lander 'Vikram' and rover 'Pragyan' and cumulatively they have 6 science payloads and a laser retroreflector on them.
Speaking to reporters after the successful
launch, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said the next 42 days are crucial. “As per
the nominal programme, we will have five earth-bound manoeuvres [that] will end
on July 31. After that we have the trans-lunar insertion, [which] will take
place on August 1. After that, it will be captured [by the] moon.This will be
followed by the separation of the propulsion module and the lander module on
August 17. “The landing is currently planned on August 23 at 5.47 pm IST, if
everything goes as per plan,” he added.
Hailing the launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in India’s space odyssey. It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian... This momentous achievement is a testament to our scientists’ relentless dedication. I salute their spirit and ingenuity!”
Minister of State Jitendra Singh, who was
present at the launch, said, “It is indeed a moment of glory for India. Thank
you team ISRO for making India proud... Today is also a day of vindication:
vindication of the dream Vikram Sarabhai [had] six decades ago.”
In the coming months various historic mission are being planned to launched from our country in coming months/years. On one hand, India is sending a mission to the moon, and other hand sending a mission to Sun. At the same time, India is preparing for Gaganyaan Mission to take our own astronauts to space.
Hence, on eve of India’s third Mission to Moon Chandrayaan 3 launch on 14 July 2023 Planetary Society of India is starting 75 days unique campaign called “To the Moon and Beyond”. Beginning with Chandrayaan 3 regular updates of the journey of the mission to moon will be shared on daily basis. Importantly awareness sessions in Schools, Colleges will be organized during period of this campaign.
Invitation to Schools/Colleges to Host: Educational institutions in both telugu states and across India can contact us at 799 348 2012 www.ournewplanets.info for hosting the sessions. In this regard Veteran Senior Scientist C. Ramakrishna Retd. ISRO has released the poster at the meet.
Before we discussion overall specification. Here is the gist of several advanced technologies which are present in Lander such as,
Preparation : To demonstrate the above said advanced technologies in earth condition, several Lander special tests have been planned and carried out successfully viz.
The overall specifications for Chandrayaan-3 is provided below:
| Sl No. | Parameter | Specifications |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mission Life (Lander & Rover) | One lunar day (~14 Earth days) |
| 2. | Landing Site (Prime) | 4 km x 2.4 km 69.367621 S, 32.348126 E |
| 3. | Science Payloads | Lander:
|
| 4. | Two Module Configuration |
|
| 5. | Mass |
|
| 6. | Power generation |
|
| 7. | Communication |
|
| 8. | Lander Sensors |
|
| 9. | Lander Actuators | Reaction wheels – 4 nos (10 Nms & 0.1 Nm) |
| 10. | Lander Propulsion System | Bi-Propellant Propulsion System (MMH + MON3), 4 nos. of 800 N Throttleable engines & 8 nos. of 58 N; Throttleable Engine Control Electronics |
| 11. | Lander Mechanisms |
|
| 12. | Lander Touchdown specifications |
|
Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled to launch on 14 July 2023 at 2.35pm. It is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It consists of Lander and Rover configuration. It will be launched by LVM3 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit. The propulsion module has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and Polari metric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.
Lander payloads: Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure the thermal conductivity and temperature; Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) for measuring the seismicity around the landing site; Langmuir Probe (LP) to estimate the plasma density and its variations. A passive Laser Retroreflector Array from NASA is accommodated for lunar laser ranging studies.
Rover payloads: Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving the elemental composition in the vicinity of landing site.
Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM) and a Rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for Inter planetary missions. The Lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the Rover which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility. The Lander and the Rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface. The main function of PM is to carry the LM from launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100 km circular polar orbit and separate the LM from PM. Apart from this, the Propulsion Module also has one scientific payload as a value addition which will be operated post separation of Lander Module. The launcher identified for Chandrayaan-3 is GSLV-Mk3 which will place the integrated module in an Elliptic Parking Orbit (EPO) of size ~170 x 36500 km.
The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are:
On 9th May 2023 one of the interesting celestial events “Zero Shadow” will occur at 12.12 pm Noon. Hence to create awareness about this occurrence promoting astronomy, the role of the tropics in Earth's climate is celebrated as “Zero Shadow Day”.
Its a fact that Earth taken has a globe, is separated into two
halves by an imaginary line of the Equator. In which northern halve is called the northern
hemisphere and the southern halve is called Southern Hemisphere. Importantly for
various purposes, we have lines of latitude and longitude drawn on the Earth’s
Globe. Wherein the latitude of the “Tropic of Cancer” is located 23.5
degrees North of the Equator. Whereas the Latitude of the “Tropic of Capricorn” is located 23.5 Degree South of the Equator. It is important to know 40% of the world's
population inhabits the tropical regions of the globe. These regions are
typically characterized by hot and humid climates, abundant rainfall, and lush
vegetation.
Zero Shadow occurs when Sun reaches the highest point in the sky
above the Tropic of Cancer or Tropic of Capricorn every year.
Rotation of Earth with 23.5 Degree axial tilt and Earth’s Elliptic path of
revolution around the Sun. Results in North Ward movement of the Sun (Uttarayana) or
South Ward Movement of Sun (Dakshinayana) in the earth Sky thus contributing to the occurrence of Zero Shadow Day. Dates and
timings.
|
ZERO SHADOW DAY DATES |
||
|
Vishakapatnam |
10 May 2023 (11.53 a.m.) |
2 August 2023 (12.04pm Noon) |
|
Warangal |
11 May 2023 (12.08 pm Noon) |
1 August (12.18 pm Noon) |
|
Vizianagaram |
12 May 2023 (11.52am) |
31 July (12.03 pm Noon) |
|
Srikakulam |
12 May 2023 (11.51am) |
31 July (12.01 pm Noon) |
